Gerrard Samson — The Pen Guy of Isle Madame
Gerrard Samson is known in the Isle Madame area as the Pen Guy. He recently made his one thousandth pen. We chatted with him at his shop in Arichat.
Gerrard Samson is the Pen Guy, well known in the Isle Madame area not just because of his well-crafted woodturned products, but because he was born and raised here and has been, among other things, the manager of the local grocery co-op.
Gerrard’s workshop is a converted car garage beside his house at the junction of the upper and lower roads just before Petit-de-grat. As you drive by you see his ranks of firewood outside and, in the cold months, smoke rising from the shop flue early in the morning. The place isn’t insulated and he burns five cords a year, but he’s going around in a t-shirt in there, turning bowls, plates and platters and, of course, pens. He is, in his words, in his happy place.
He loves to talk and is full of great anecdotes, especially about how his wife catches him doing things like microwaving chunks of wood in the kitchen or lopping off limbs from fruit trees. What struck us most about him, though, was how much he loves to be with people and how much his community means to him.
When did you start turning wood?
I’ve been doing this since I retired four years ago. I was a manager at the co-op (in Arichat) before that. I turned a couple of pieces of wood on my uncle’s wood lathe 46 years ago. And I made a goblet. And the father was there with his son, turning wood at that time. My cousin said, ‘If I hadn’t watched you make it I wouldn’t have believed it.’ It turned out perfect. This was my second piece that I turned. So I told my wife, I said, ‘When I retire from work, this is what I’m going to do.’ So, (when I retired), I went over to Canadian Tire and got a lathe. And I’ve been doing it ever since.
What kind of stuff do you make?
Pens are my best-selling items. People often refer to me as ‘the pen guy.’ I sell them for anywhere from $20 to $35. I also make bowls, Christmas ornaments, and platters. I used to be in partnership with an artist (Gary Boudreau), who painted on platters I made.
One lady last year, she came and she wanted a small urn for her pet that died. And that was really memorable. I make urns for people too, they don’t want the big ones; they want two or three (small) urns for the family to spread the ashes.
What makes your stuff different?
You know, I take a lot of pride in my finish. I put eight coats of finish on all of my products, even my pens. I make my own shellac. And as of late this last year I started making an abrasive paste.
So I put that on first. Like oak, there’s a lot of open pores in oak. So the abrasive paste fills a lot of that. Then I put four coats of shellac on it after that. The first two you put on back to back because it dries really fast. The third and fourth coat is about three hours later. And the last coat I finish it off the next day. Then I put a polish on it after that. And I put four coats of that on.
How many pens have you made?
I made my 1000th pen last week. Wow. But I gave a lot of them away. I never sold all of them but I made my number 1,000. And I’ve got that one in the house and I want to get my first one with it. And I want to put them in a glass case, both of them.
I sold my first pen to a lady in Arichat and I was talking to her the other day. I said, ‘I’d like to buy my pen back. As a matter of fact,’ I said, ‘I’d like to make you a really nice pen, a lot better than the first one I made.’ ‘Oh, no problem,’ she said. ‘So what kind of pen are you going to make me?’
So it didn’t happen yet but it’s going to happen. I’m going to drive over there. I know her well. She used to work for me at the co-op.
Do you like working at markets?
I love meeting people. That’s my biggest thing, whether I sell or not. I like doing local stuff. And I like to see the people I’m selling to. When people come in the shop here, even though they just come in to sit, I just enjoy it, right?
I go in sometimes for lunch and my wife says, ‘Well, what did you accomplish today?’ I said, ‘Not very much today. This fellow came in and this lady and her husband came in and we talked for an hour and we talked for half an hour.’
‘So,’ she says, ‘really, you didn’t do anything then?’ ‘No,’ I said, ‘I did something. I talked.’
And I love to talk.
Is there some item you sold or a customer you especially remember?
A fellow from Guysborough dropped in one day, he works out on the oil fields, and he wanted … a 17-inch bowl. I said, ‘A 17-inch bowl to put salad in? You must have a big family.’ He said, ‘I don’t. I’m by myself but I entertain a lot.’
I didn’t make the 17-inch bowl as my lathe is not capable of that size. I found this bowl on the internet in pretty rough shape and with permission from him bought it and refinished it. A six hour project. I also made eight serving bowls for him.
(When it was done) he said, ‘I had to take my bowl out to work (out west) and show them because I sent them pictures and they couldn’t believe the finish on it.’
It was a ribbon mahogany bowl and I put 11 coats of finish on that and it just gleamed.
How did you learn woodturning?
YouTube. There’s so much different stuff on there. I thought, ‘How can it show you what to do when you’re doing stuff in carpentry or mechanic work?’ But it shows you detail to detail. I mean, it’s just unbelievable, and they talk while they do it, so that’s the biggest thing.
What did you know about wood when you started woodturning?
Not a whole lot. I didn’t know the difference between spruce and pine to tell you the truth.
I was buying a lot of kiln-dried wood from a (molding and cabinet shop) in Sydney. They make a lot of pillars for houses. So, the ends they cut off, I was buying a lot of those. It was perfect for my needs.
I learned a lot from (the owner). He said, ‘You got any experience with wood?’ I said, ‘Not at all. I’m learning as I go.’ ‘Well,’ he said, ‘come in the back.’ He had a room in there with about 15 different types of wood, all on shelves. He said, ‘Now, tell me what that is.’ Didn’t have a clue. It was hickory. I’d never seen hickory before.
Where do you get your wood?
I buy mostly local wood from Nova Scotia and some specialty wood from Ontario. Cocobolo. Olive wood. I buy all kinds of specialty wood for the pens.
Do people give you wood?
A fellow gave me some benches that he got from the church in West Arichat. Solid oak. So I made him a set of pens.
I got some bird’s eye maple from a fellow one day, Gave it to me! Two planks of it about that long, inch and a half thick. And I kind of treasure it. I said, ‘I’ll pay you for it.’ ‘No,’ he said, ‘I want to give it to you.’ He said, ‘I’ve had this in my workshop for probably five years now. I was going to make a little box. I never got to it. And right now, I’m getting too old for that stuff anyway. So I’m giving it to you.’ I gifted him a set of pens.
And a fellow brought me a cherry board the other day about eight feet long. I’m starting to run out of room but I can’t refuse hardwood. The fellow said, ‘Well, if you don’t want it I’ll just burn it.’ I said, ‘Oh my God, don’t say words like that. You’re going to burn hardwood like that?’ I gifted him a set of cherry pens.
Where can you find Gerrard Samson’s work?
He has a Facebook Page — Mr.G Wood Turning. He does several regular markets such as the Saturday Artisans Market (S.A.M.) in St. Peters, the market at the Civic Centre in Port Hawkesbury, the market at Picasse near Christmas, and the market in D’Escosse. The last, he says, is his best.
But you can also find him at one offs like the St. John’s Centre for the Arts sale this past June 2024.
Editor's note: we added a couple more photo just before we posted.
Author details
Archie Nadon, writer and photographer, left Ontario in 76 dreaming of living by the sea. In 2021 it finally happened.
